New strain on peace process as Maginnis quits

The Northern Ireland peace process braced itself for further strain yesterday when the Ulster Unionist MP Ken Maginnis announced he intended to step down, sparking fears of a succession battle between the pro and anti-Good Friday agreement factions of his party.

Mr Maginnis, 62, MP for Fermanagh/South Tyrone and one of the staunchest allies of the UUP leader, David Trimble, is to leave Westminster after 18 years at the next election. He said he would remain active in politics, however.

The two most likely contestants for his seat are on opposite wings. The solicitor and UUP vice-chairman, James Cooper, who was Mr Maginnis's election agent, is a Trimbleite. Arlene Foster, a lawyer who works for Mr Cooper in Enniskillen, is against the Belfast peace accord and supports the dissident Lagan Valley MP, Jeffrey Donaldson.

Both said they were actively considering running for selection. The constituency association will vote to agree a candidate on January 29.

Mr Trimble is under pressure from rebels such as Mr Donaldson, who may call a meeting of the party's ruling council to try to force him to pull out of power-sharing with Sinn Fein over the issue of decommissioning.

The yes/no split on the 860 ruling council members is very close, but six of the party's nine MPs are anti-agreement, and the possibility of another agreement opponent taking Mr Maginnis's place would be a blow to the UUP leader and the entire political process.

Mr Maginnis, a former teacher and Ulster Defence Regiment major, whom the IRA has tried to kill at least five times, was one of 15 Unionists who resigned in protest but was re-elected.

But Mr Maginnis, who lost the leadership contest in 1995, became a linchpin in the new hierarchy and claimed the party had made progress for peace in the past few years. "Our party's strength is that it works with reality rather than a wish list," he said.

Mr Cooper's backers said they were confident he would be selected and could easily retain the seat Mr Maginnis held by a majority of almost 13,700.

But anti-agreement sources suggested that choosing him over Mrs Foster could create an opportunity for Ian Paisley's hardline Democratic Unionists, who have not fielded a candidate in the constituency for some years but could put up the Stormont social development minister, Maurice Morrow, if they thought he could steal a march on a pro-agreement candidate.

"There are a lot of disaffected yes voters in the area," said one source. "There is a fear the Ulster Unionist party will be slaughtered in the next general election if they are still in power with Sinn Fein with no handover of IRA guns."

Mr Cooper said yesterday he saw the differences between himself and Mrs Foster as contrasts of approach and emphasis rather than policy and he hoped the contest would not be divisive.